I found a wrecked 2011 JCW R56 and they have the black gauge faces and black-buttoned center console. It has the same non-auto climate control that I have. Is this basically plug and play or is it one of those things where the silly ECUs won't match up?

Good question, would like to know this as well. If the car has navigation then the controls are different. So I assume the wiring is different as well. Don't know if they have like a universal wiring loom for the different options.

The actual speedo & tach instrument gauges are coded to the VIN. If all of the indicators and warning lights remained the same for 2011, it may be worthwhile to swap in just the black gauge face plates to your current speedo & tach.

I suspect that the center components and radio are plug compatible, but don't know about programming requirements.

Good question, would like to know this as well. If the car has navigation then the controls are different. So I assume the wiring is different as well. Don't know if they have like a universal wiring loom for the different options.

Besides the Gauge faces and buttons being black what makes you want to do the retrofit?
Sorry for the curiosity, I have not really spent much time in a R56.
I've only sat in two and that was not recently either..

Besides the Gauge faces and buttons being black what makes you want to do the retrofit?
Sorry for the curiosity, I have not really spent much time in a R56.
I've only sat in two and that was not recently either..

i have done this and can confirm it is plug & play. there is no coding required and you can use your current speedo which makes things easier

I replaced the climate controls and radio today from pre-facelift grey to facelift black. The radio and speedo are working great and I didn't get any errors.

The climate controls also light up and respond when I set the temperature and fan higher or lower and it looks like it's working but it's not doing anything. If I set airco to Hi , Low or Max doesn't matter, the airco just doesn't turn on.